Let's talk about COVID-19

[elusiveat]

I think community support is a big part of dealing with emergency situations, which the current coronavirus outbreak could well become.

The Davis Square DW community could be a great way of exchanging ideas and helping figure out who is available to support one another, and I thought it might be useful to start by chatting a bit about where we are all at in our preparations.

Some questions that might help get a conversation going:

1) What are you doing right now to help your own household prepare?

2) What could you imagine doing to help your neighbors?

3) What storage capabilities / limitations does your house have? Are there ways that others could help overcome these limitations?

4) Are there any special needs in your household that you'd like to share? (e.g. physical limitations that
would mean you could use an extra set of hands if you are isolated, or alternatively household members with compromised immune systems so that we should take extra measures to avoid contact in the case of an outbreak)

You are welcome to explicitly ask for help (although visibility might be higher if you make an individual post!), or just to put down some quick thoughts. Just getting a few ideas jotted down could be a useful step!

Comments

[surrealestate]

My immediate neighborhood is already having weekly meeting to talk and think about this stuff, including plans for periodic check-ins with the people who live alone, etc. It doesn't take that much space to have enough pantry food for a couple of weeks, anyway, if you know how to cook, though I expect supermarkets will still be restocking and selling, and I'm sure we'll always have multiple people who can go shopping on behalf of others. I am extremely concerned for my mother, who is over 80 and lives alone hundreds of miles away. I told her if she wants, I will drive down to get her and bring her to stay with us for as long as she'd like.

[elusiveat]

Great to hear that other neighborhoods are already starting this conversation. Our street *just* started.

Our household is pretty well stocked with food that can be cooked into meals but don't have a lot of ready-made meals, and that could be rough if my partner and I both get sick at the same time and don't want to get out of bed.

I totally hear you about concern for aging parents. I'm currently in a bit of a holding pattern about whether to move forward with my plans to visit my parents in Florida in a couple weeks. I'm worried about travel in principle, and I'm worried about picking something up on the train trip and putting *them* at risk, but I'm also worried about not seeing them. And I don't have the luxury of just staying down there (unless forced by circumstances) because I teach. So, lots of ambivalence : \

[surrealestate]

Yeah, luckily my mom isn't quite that far away, and definitely concerns about the travel, which is why I said I'd drive. (My in-laws are also within driving distance, but they have each other so it's less of a pressing concern. They offered to let us stay with them to ride it out, but I feel like we're better off in a denser area with more neighbors and more services.)

We also have small children, so if we are both sick, feeding ourselves isn't the issue that feels most important. (And really, if I was too sick to get out of bed, I probably wouldn't want to eat much, anyway.) We'll just have to count on neighbors. My spouse is in healthcare, too, so we've also accepted that he's likely to be exposed on the early side of things. :/

[squirrelitude]

I'd love to hear more about how you're going to do check-ins, how you went about finding and asking people who might want it, etc.

I was thinking that some people might not want in-person check-ins due to risk of infection, and trying to figure out ways of doing that, too.

[surrealestate]

In this case, the "who" is well-defined and we already know they want it. Good point about the "how" -- if that has been specifically discussed, I don't know the outcome.

On board for comunity support.

[kathmandu]

I have a car and will have most weekends and evenings free through Mar29th. I could do a supply run if anyone housebound (personal mobility, alone with sick family member, etc) needs something from a store.